1. Brendhan wrote...

Congratulations! What a day. Look out for the Euros-they really were learning many of the moves minutes before they would go crush them.

Great weekend-thanks all!

2. nick in sydney m/37/6ft/183 wrote...

Big respect to Mikko. What an outstanding all round athlete and terrific that he won the event by winning the last WOD - he clearly has the heart of a champion too.

3. CER wrote...

Congratulations Mikko and Tanya!

4. MB wrote...

In the comments a few posts back, I posted a proposal for a slightly different scoring method. I just wanted to follow up on it in light of the final results. My scoring method would have given first place to Jason Khalipa and second place to Mikko Salo, just 3 points behind. Third place would have been DJ Wickham 14 points behind Mikko.

I feel that this would have been the wrong outcome. Mikko's outstanding performance in the long run AND the deadlift (not to mention the rest of the games) make a compelling argument that he's more well-rounded than Jason. I personally feel that he deserves the title. I need to emphasize that this in no way should reduce the impact of Jason Khalipa's titanic accomplishment in coming back from 3rd to last place in the first run. That guy has clearly validated his ownership of last year's crown.

What does this say about my scoring system? Well, it says that maybe my goals of weighting all 8 events equally were not the right ones. If the Games organizers were specifically aware of the reduced weight of day two's events, then it turned out to be the right decision (in my opinion). Although we cannot ignore the fact that it could have turned out differently. I'm confident that the Games organizers will take all this into account next year.

I may write a little more about these ideas in the future, but for now I'll just leave you with one more thing. The significant distance between Mikko and DJ in my scoring suggests that Khalipa and Salo were really performing on a measurably higher level than the rest of the top 16. Congrats Mikko, your win was well-deserved. Jason, you are nothing short of amazing. You proved that any reservations I had about your abilities given the short duration of all of last year's events were wrong. (And I'm sure you'll be working on the run for next year). Outstanding work.

5. Katarina wrote...

Mikko! What a great day for you and all the European CrossFit community! We all knew you could make it. Congratulations on stellar performances!

Congratulations to all the competitors and the organizers of the Games.

6. Scott Schactler wrote...

way to go northwest! won the affiliate cup and got #2&3 spots on the individual men and #2 for women! way to go charity, moe, and tommy! and the NW Crossfit Crew!

7. dan wrote...

this guy can do 105 reps of 135lb clean and jerks in 14 minutes (death by C&J)

8. Shane S wrote...

Any way you look at it, this guy deserves it.
Congratulations.

9. Mrap wrote...

Excellent work Mikko! Congratulations. I'm the same exact height and weight as you and nowhere near your performance numbers. This is a bit inspiring!

10. Marko wrote...

Where are the Men's final results?

11. dan replied to comment from Marko...

http://games2009.crossfit.com/men-results.html

12. Oyden wrote...

Congratulations to all the athletes that participated in the games and specially to the winners Mikko Salo and Tanya Wagner.
Greetings from Panama City, Panama (Central America)
Hopefully will be there next year.
Greetings to everyone that in one way or the other help with the Games.

13. Andy wrote...

Congrats Mikko! You really deserve the title. The run and 495lb deadlift boggles my mind. I look forward to seeing more about you.

14. rob wrote...

best part about mikko winning... i wont have to compete against him at next years regionals!

Congrats Mikko! After seeing that time on the heavy helen, it was obvious you were a major threat

15. dan wrote...

anyone have an update on OPT's injury? hope he's alright

i think he's the oldest guy to be in the top 16
only steve, moe, and jeff are above 30. which is also around the time men are supposed to get fat and weak

16. dan wrote...

does anyone know what were the causes of the other DNF in the chipper WOD? OPT injury, Sveinbjorn and Jeff muscleups, Jeremy Thiel???

17. Hermis wrote...

Congrats, Mikko! You`re absolutely amazing! Who knew a guy from Finland would be the fittest man on earth! You certainly earned your title! Fully enjoy your win :)

Samma pa finska. Onnittelut, Mikko! Hieno kisa ja aivan loistavaa jalkea! Varmasti jokainen suomalainen crossfitteri on tanaan pakahtua onnesta ja YLPEYDESTA. Teit miehen tyon! Todella upeaa!

18. James wrote...

Mikko you are an inspiring athlete! I knew somewhere in the world has Chris Spealler's speed and athleticism but even stronger! Really well rounded! I think Crossfit athletes of the future will evolve to even more crazier and crazier fitness levels!

It would be cool if they involve some swimming and rock climbing! Which is the other natural way for the human body to travel besides running/jogging/walking.

19. ben wrote...

Well done to all athletes! Amazing efforts from everyone to complete those workouts! Inspirational to everyone who is involved with Crossfit. Just a side note to Chris Hogan from Schwartz's Crossfit Melbourne, Australia, great stuff mate, you are a true champ. Everyone is pumped about your efforts mate!

20. Vic, CrossFit Osan wrote...

Like i Said in prior post, any of us that were at the european Qualifier new that Mikko was going to do exceptionaly well !!! I knew with out a shout of a doubt that he was going to place top 3, Mikko Congrats !!! I told everyone the Cyborg does not get tired !!! Ricky From CrossFit Omanha said he doubts anyone will ever take the title twice, Mikko may just be the exception, and I think its going to be very hard to take the title from him next year! any takers???

To Jason Khalipa, you did an amazing job, coming back from that run and placing top 5!! Good Job Champ will see you next year!

Congrats to Brian Bowen From CF Ramstein(my home box) and Jaime Crichton From CF Manchester !! you guys Rocked!!

21. John Davy wrote...

@6 Scott Schactler, good point. Props too to Mikko Salo who reminds me of a Chris Spealler, but incrementally bigger and stronger. I'd liked to have seen Spealler in the finals so he could be exposed to more head-to-head competition with Salo. Oh well, there's always next year...

22. Duke Nukem wrote...

Congrats Mikko, you are a freak.

23. Beth replied to comment from dan...

Jeremy pulled out due an injury. He felt something pop (in his lat?) and after some medical attention they felt it was best for him to pull out rather than risk a long-term injury. Not sure exactly what the injury is...

24. Ricardo wrote...

Congrats to Mikko and Tanya! Truly their placements are examples of what crossfit looks for in the title of world's fittest athletes. That having been said, I can't help but think of what would have happened had Khalipa not finished 72nd on the run. Either way, he did, so I know that doesn't matter, but I think we might have been looking at a repeat champion or close to it. My hats of to all competitors for an excellent and entertaining 2 days.

25. Jason Khalipa wrote...

Congratulations Mikko, Awesome Job this weekend!

Thank you Crossfit HQ for putting on this phenomenal event!!!!!!!!!! I could only imagine how much time and preparation went into doing all of this, thank you for all of your hard work.

Another big Thank you!!! To all of the volunteers and judges at the event, you guys had to show up supppper early and work your ass off everyday, without you guys none of this would have been possible, thank you again!!!

Can't wait for next year!

Jason Khalipa

26. Cooper wrote...

Anybody know the weight on the overhead lunges? Was it 45 lunges or pounds? So very confused.

27. dan replied to comment from Cooper...

it was overhead lunges carrying a 45lb plate
i don't think the distance was measured, but it was a length or two of something in the event area

28. Chris wrote...

Mikko is a beast!

Also, the lunges were 300 ft with a 45lb plate overhead.

29. nick in sydney m/37/6ft/183 wrote...

Jason,

congratulations on your performance this weekend - you deserve at least as much credit as you did for winning last year's.

I can't imagine what your body is feeling like right now - you must be in more pain than you thought possible.

I feel super guilty asking you questions right now, you must be wrecked, so please don't feel like you have to answer!

From your perspective what were the most challenging and difficult parts of the event?

Also, from a fuel/rest perspective - what did you eat and drink, how much did you sleep and have you lost any weight this weekend?

hopefully you are giving yourself a huge rest and feed over the next few days

30. Mike wrote...

Lunges were for 300'? That was the distance for the affiliate competition, but the individual competition too? Holy smokes. That is a long distance to carry that overhead. I was going to try the "chipper" as my WOD tonight - this is going to hurt...

31. andy wrote...

I don't think that is correct, 300' seems like a lot. There is no way they carried it the length of a football field. Maybe half that

32. Jason Khalipa wrote...

Nick,

The most challenging workout was the run for me, I cramped up and felt like hell!

I ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches, balance bars, and a subway sandwich.

----------------------
More people I forgot to give props to in my previous post:

Tanya, awesome job!!! 2nd then 1st, amazing!

I think OPT said it the best to me, "just finishing all of these workouts is an achievement in itself" Congratulations to all of the competitors who made it to the Games and put it all on the line!!!

Coach Bingbing from Crossfit Unlimited is badass!! Thank you very much for all of your help.

Jason Khalipa

33. KEW wrote...

Jason you are all class it was fun to watch you move up the standings all weekend. You showed everyone that last year was no joke and that you will be around for years to come.

34. Sal wrote...

Congrats to Mikko for a stelar performance and to all the other competitors at the games. Just wanted to say how proud I am that Jason came back from the dreadful finish in the run. Working out as his box I know exactly how hard he has trained.

great job Jason and to all competitors!

35. Daniel Mick wrote...

Congratulations Mikko and Tanya! What amazing overall athletes!

HUGE congrats to CFHQ for creating and organizing such an incredible competition! The scoring, logistics, coverage, and everything else were all fantastic despite minor hiccups, especially considering it was only the 3rd year ever. (You know it already, but f*ck most of the naysayers whining about the scoring. It represented. All 3 of the standards of fitness from the foundational journal were encompassed and tested).

Congrats to Jenn & Jerome! You worked you asses off and gave everything you had. HEL is well proud of you.

A final HUGE thank you to all the volunteers and judges. More successful games will only require more work from dedicated volunteers like you. Thank you for making it possible!

36. O-P wrote...

Congratulations Mikko! Well done.

-Onneksi olkoon Mikko! Kertakaikkiaan loistava suoritus.

37. Duncan M. wrote...

Good job Mikko You did great just like everyone who competed did!

38. Tamara G wrote...

I remember when I first saw Mikko Salo perform at the European Qualifiers, it was CrossFit love at first sight. Myself and the rest of my CF Ramstein pals have been saying for months that Mikko would be the next CrossFit games winner and that no one would see it coming. Awesome job!

I heart Mikko :)

39. Tarmo Kangas wrote...

Mikko on
Voima mies!
Sisu!!!!!!!!

40. proyc wrote...

Jason you are awesome !! what you have achieved is next to impossible from 72nd to 5th !

-partha.

41. Duncan M. replied to comment from Jason Khalipa...

Jason,
Great Job! You were just amazing!
It was an honor to have you at our kids cert in marina!

My whole family and I were cheering you on the whole way through the games!
I screamed my voice out cheering for you at every workout!
So congratz for coming back at the end!

Duncan Martin

42. OL wrote...

onnea Mikko. mahtava suoritus.

43. CFI Wink wrote...

Congrats Mikko! Wonderful job!

44. Colm wrote...

I invented Mikko Salo: http://www.vimeo.com/5046144

Serious Congratz Dude!!!

45. Brian--CrossFit Ramstein wrote...

Proud of ya Mikko! Also proud to have competed with you--a HUGE boost for CrossFit in Europe.

See you next year...

Brian

46. Katarina replied to comment from Colm...

Good one, Colm. :D

47. Nukemarine wrote...

Joe, you're telling MB to STFU when he's agreeing with the way the events were scored in the end? Oh, you're not actually reading the posts you're just flaming. My bad.

MB, good take on reasons to weigh day two events at 1/5th the value of day one. I personally see no problem weighing events evenly. Here's why:

If Jason were only competing against the other final 15, he's the world's fittest man.

If Jason were competing against final 75 in 5 WODS and the final 16 in 3 WODS he's not world's fittest man.

If Jason competed against the final 75 in all 8 WODS, he may or may not world's fittest man due to placement.

Like I said elsewhere, it shows that there's not a "World's Fittest Man" as pretty much any of the top 16 could come out on top with just slight shifts of how one scores. All these guys and ladies are elite.

If the powers that care, can all 32 people in the finals be given automatic spots in next years games. It seems silly to do qualifiers for them when they pretty much did the greatest qualifying round in the world this week-end.

48. mrjling wrote...

Awesome Mikko! Sisu!!!!
Great games this year. Next year it should be broadcasted on the net, live. We need that. Thanks to all the Twitterfeeders though. Khalipa was amazing, OPT rules, the original CFer. Hackenbruck was crazy.

49. Charmain - CrossFit Rebel SA wrote...

To evey single person that competed - awesome job! Well done - and truly the fittest took the title! Every competitor did amazingly well and to be part of the 140+ was already an achievement. Enjoy your rest.

50. kempie wrote...

Congratulations Mikko - couldn't imagine a better individual to carry the torch for Crossfit in Europe.

Cheers, kempie

51. knox wrote...

Fantastic games! They were really interesting to follow.

The scoring "issues" would be fixed with a system similar to the one used only first place gets 16 points, 2nd place gets 15, 3rd gets 14 etc. Anyone that finishes over 16th spot gets 0 and the 16 people with the most points move on. I know that means you might have people that get 0 points overall but thats OK too. Going into day 2 the scoring stays the same but the events are now weighted equally. IF thats the goal.

52. CROSSFITFIFE wrote...

Congratulations Mikko and Tanya, after seeing Mikko at N Ireland i knew he would place high, congratulations on taking first

53. JukkaA CrossfitHelsinki wrote...

Congratulations Mikko, mindblowing perforamce !

Onnittelut Mikko, oot cyborgi !

54. john wopat wrote...

I wonder who's more exhausted, the competitors or the dozens of folks responsible for organizing and running this remarkable event. Props to all!

55. Hanna K Crossfit/Guangzhou/China wrote...

Onnittelut Mikko! Hienoa, etta Porista tulee muitakin kuin takatukkia.

56. Kurt Sarkela wrote...

Great job Mikko!!!! I have one word... SISU!!

57. JayM in SC wrote...

Outstanding competition!! No doubt the most elite male and female competitors won this event, given their well rounded performances. They seem to have the fewest "chinks" in their "fitness armor", and honestly thats what the Games were designed to do, expose those weaknesses.
I think all of us are amazed at the progressively evolving level of fitness that these folks are achieving. As this gains more international appeal, and as the financial "purse" develops and more elite competitors are attracted, the sky truly is the limit. I'm proud to be a Crossfitter and an Affiliate owner!

58. Brian wrote...

AWESOME job to all of the crossfitters out there this weekened. And another awesome job to all of the tech staff that kept us up-to-date on the web. It was great to be able to follow the games from home/work.

I am sure there are a lot of whinners and complainers out there, but everyone at CrosssFit HQ did a great job this year. THANK YOU!

Congrats to Mikko and Tanya... holly s#$t, you are beasts!

59. Ben wrote...

Mikko definitely deserved to win, awesome performance!

However, I still think it's strange that all three of the Day 2 events combined were worth less than ONE Day 1 event. But it seems as if the best man won in the end, anyway.

And a big congrats to Tanya Wagner and everyone else that finished the weekend, just freakin' unbelievable. When Tanya and Mikko die and during their autopsy it's discovered they are actually robots, will their trophies shift down a spot? :)

60. Driz wrote...

Can someone please show me a detailed description of all the events?

61. michaelchasetx wrote...

You are all class acts and make many proud. From the Coaches, Judges, Volunteers, Competitors, Commentors ... Man, what a great group of people shining through what we do!

62. Driz wrote...

None of the observations regarding weighting of the scoring matter, really, because veryone was subjected to the same test. What's "weird and strange" for one is "weird and strange" for all. For this particular test and on these competition days, Mikko and Tanya were tops. The best individuals won, and congratulations to them.

I would still like to see detailed descriptions of all the events. For some reason, I can't find this! If anyone can point me to a link, I'd greatly appreciate it.

63. Ryan at CrossFit 714 wrote...

Major props to all the competitors this weekend. Simply amazing performances. All of you really inspire me to take my training (and coaching) to the next level.

I'd like to wish any of the athletes that were injured at the Games this year a speedy recovery.

Ryan

64. Mike Haytack wrote...

Mikko and Tanya great job, very inspiring. Jason, you're and incredible young man, great spirt, great sole, James (OPT), sorry for your outcome, we all know you're the OG #1, your brother will be your legacy. I'm sure you'll continue to have a LARGE impact on the community.

Thanks for all the tweets, thanks for all the hard work HQ, and vols.

65. The Pie wrote...

I would say looking back at the mens standing that Canada West was by far the most dominant region on the mens side. 4 athletes that finished in the top 23: DJ, both fitzgeralds and Andy Swartz. Well done boyz. You did us proud this weekend.

The Pie
CrossFit Lions
North Vancouver

66. ken c replied to comment from Nukemarine...

i disagree with all the second guessing of the scoring. i totally agree that the top 16 should be able to go back to the games without qualifying again. they deserve it.

67. Playoff Beard wrote...

Awesome event, incredible weekend. My thanks and admiration to all the competitors, judges and volunteers who made this happen. Dave Castro, you are a machine.

Mikko, congratulations on the win, you are a stellar athlete!

Jason Khalipa, you showed an amazing amount of heart brother. Absolutely incredible comeback dude, way to go! You are the worlds greatest Crossfitter in my eyes, both as an athlete and a person.

68. John & Kandi wrote...

Congrats to Charity Vale of Crossfit Snohomish!!! We spoke to her and her husband Jeff at the games (very nice people by the way) and learned that she entered the NW qualifier primarily because her husband Jeff was competing in it. Then she goes on to finish 2nd in the CF games!!! It was very inspiring to watch a mother of 3 dominate the final event the way she did. Way to go Charity!!! You are awesome!!!

John & Kandi from Lake Stevens, WA

69. Seattle Chris replied to comment from Ben...

Ben, I thought that they were all counted the same? If you came in first place on either day you only scored 1 point? Do you mean that you were penalized more for a poor performance on the first day?

Pacific Northwest had an awesome showing, 1/2 of the top 6 competitors.

70. Duke Nukem replied to comment from Driz...

I'd like to say you're correct, but you're not, that's why there is a controversy. Think about it some more and/or read some of the forums and you'll see why.

The fact that the scoring was broken doesn't take anything away from the champions, it's just something to remedy for next year.

71. Driz replied to comment from Duke Nukem...

Duke, I can be convinced when the facts and argument are strong and clear, and so I'm not convinced yet. How do you feel about these questions?

1. Are the same rules applied to all competitors?

2. Is any one competitor given an edge that is not available to any other competitor?

3. What specifically is the scoring flaw?

72. josh everett wrote...

Outstanding Job Mikko! Amazing performances all around... I've never seen a big man w/ Tommy's met-con, jason's epic comeback, sooooooo many truely elite athletes. As much as i hated it I really enjoyed being a spectator on sunday.

73. bkm replied to comment from Seattle Chris...

As discussed elsewhere on the forums, the problem with the scoring was in the "power of placement/displacement" of the day 1 events compared to day 2. For example, one competitor had trouble with wod #7 and only had 27 reps whereas 1st place got 172. That person did not lose one place in the standings on Day 2 whereas had that wod been on day 1, it is likely he would have dropped precipitously. The wods on day 2 had about 0.25 the power of placement/displacement compared to day 1.
In the end, from the Champions standpoint this is irrelevant since it is obvious the most elite male and females won in spite of that shortcoming. No complaints here, this was a world class effort by all involved and the event will likely continue to evolve as fast as the fitness and popularity of CrossFit has.

74. Nukemarine replied to comment from Duke Nukem...

It's not a "fact" that the scoring system was broken. The only broken part of the whole thing was the DL portion with 16 people getting 1 point. Even that's not a real "broken" as ties normally share the same points such as 17 through 19 did on that competition. That's just poor planning with the weights, not the score.

The only thing scoring revealed should they do something similar again, is give more weight to earlier events. If that was the intention all along, then it works. Now, if CFH thought all events equally determine world's fittest man, then the system that recounts after each cut would be fair.

The scoring was not broken as a fact at all. It's a matter of opinion on how much each event should be weighed. Looking at it, I guess it makes sense that a pure endurance event (7km run) and pure strength event (DL max) held the biggest sway on who will not be the winner as being low in those pretty much keeps you out. Same with the next three events. After that, it's a matter of the closely judged events to fine tune the results. So day 1 did not give you the winners, but it told you who would not win. Day 2 did the rest.

75. j wrote...

My fascination with the response to the scoring technique is growing. The only possible way this scoring could be "broken" is if it affords only one single person a distinct advantange that is singularly unavailable to any other person. These rules do not do this.

"For example, one competitor had trouble with wod #7 and only had 27 reps whereas 1st place got 172. That person did not lose one place in the standings on Day 2 whereas had that wod been on day 1..."
--The reasoning behind this critique is faulty. It argues that this scoring condition would be unevenly distributed among competitors, which was of course not true. Every competitor assumed the same "risk".

76. Ron wrote...

I was in charge of the scoring entry and calculation for the Games. The scoring method was developed by Tony and Dave. I wrote the code that handled the entry and calculating of results, as well as recommending the tie-breaking procedure, which I borrowed from points based sailing series. Everything was handled automatically. That we had to go back 3 events to get the tie-breaker to determine 16th place for the women on day 1, or 5 places for 3rd place for the woman's final was invisible to me until I looked at the results. The result were often finalized within five minutes of the completion of the event, and the biggest barrier there was getting the scoring cards and deciphering the writing. The results were published on site via an open WiFi connection and were available to anyone with a decent WiFi phone/media player (read: iPod Touch) or laptop.

I appreciate the alternatives proposed here. I don't consider proposing/recalculating alternatives to be "armchair quarterbacking" and appreciate the work that went into coming up with them. I have many thoughts on the scoring and look forward to sharing them in the future. Right now I have to catch a flight home.

77. se replied to comment from Ron...

My reservation about the scoring aside. I think you guys did an amzaing job tabulating and keeping the site up to date with the Live Scoring.

78. jaime wrote...

Hat off to each & every competitor,MAXIMUM RESPECT!
Unexpected and refreshing artic blast from the north.
Mikko you're the man!
Who do you train w/?Who is your coach?What is the sport subculture like in Pori Finland?I'm curious as are many others.What is your diet like....pickled herring & reindeer milk? ;-)Great topic for a CF article or CF radio.
And Boot Camp Iceland,you guys crashed the party big time.
My understanding is you blew out the local XFit atheletes affiliate at your local qualifier.What is your trainig regimen like?Iclend has a history of Strongman competitors overepresenting for such a small population,but Xfit?
a possible Iceland Boot Camp WOD
5 rounds
1)pick up big rock and sprint on tundra through blizzard
2)climb snow covered volcano & back
3)row Viking dragon boat

Not noted at all is that for Mikko,the Icecubes & Willis from down under,they all had to travel a long way and their circadian clocks must have been whacked competing on Pacific daylight time,but they totally overcame that handicap!

On another note the banner the @ the games read something like "everything is settled by competition not debate".The irony being half the messageboards debating the dysfunctional scoring system which blunted Khalipa from being on the podium,and turned the affiliate team final WOD into a yawner non event.
Anyway epic,epic performers, performances & WODS!

79. R replied to comment from Jason Khalipa...

Do I see a Subway sandwich endorsement on its way!?

80. Ryan at CrossFit 714 replied to comment from R...

LOL. I thought the same. Reminded me of Happy Gilmore. Jason documented everything he ate in a 24 period in a video on the games site and there was a stop at Subway, as well. =D

Jason K - incredible performance this weekend!

81. bkm replied to comment from j...

You didn't understand the point of the comment you quoted, and you are incorrect in the "risk" being the same. The risk for said competitor in the inability to perform in wod #7 was MUCH less risky in the placement of that individual compared to a wod on day 1. The individual competitors were NOT at distinct advantange UNLESS their particularly weakness, like gymnastics or heavy OLy lifts, came up in the wods on day 2. Now if your position is that long slow distance running is more of a determinant of our definition of fitness than say doing gymnastic moves,HSPU's or Musceups for example, then the point is moot. However, that is another debate entirely.
Again, this was a World Class event, and I am not complaining just observing that if we value each component of fitness equally then they should weigh in equally on who we crown Champion. BTW, I contend that in spite of these "shortcomings" the most fit athletes came out on top which was the purpose of the event, and as stated previously the event is evolving as fast as the level of fitness and popularity of CrossFit.

82. Bonnie wrote...

AMAZING!!! INSPIRATIONAL!!! Thats all I can say...
What a great weekend,,what phenomenal performances. Congratulations to Mikko and Tanya...and all the competitors!!

83. Dave wrote...

What was the age of the oldest competitors?

84. j replied to comment from bkm...

I disagree.

You didn't understand the point of the comment you quoted, and you are incorrect in the "risk" being the same.
++++I understood what you wrote and I think you you are still wrong: every individual's position of risk is exactly, precisely the same. You're experiencing gambler's fallacy.

The risk for said competitor in the inability to perform in wod #7 was MUCH less risky in the placement of that individual compared to a wod on day 1.
++++I don't see it this way. You have to look at the variables you cited from the perspective of the task and not from the perspective of the individual's capacity. The task does not regard history or predict performance. It simply calculates against position. Competitor A's chances of being in position X are at given point N are precisely the same as B's, C's, and so forth. "Coulda happened to me" applies here.

The individual competitors were NOT at distinct advantange UNLESS their particularly weakness, like gymnastics or heavy OLy lifts, came up in the wods on day 2.
++++This is precisely what a test is for?

Now if your position is that long slow distance running is more of a determinant of our definition of fitness than say doing gymnastic moves,HSPU's or Musceups for example, then the point is moot. However, that is another debate entirely.
++++This is the crux of the issue, and it is the center of my point. As I understand it, Xfit was originally a way to develop "overall fitness". To me, power production over time should be measured for a variety of tasks, LSD most certainly (and painfully) included. By its very nature, the rules of this test are fair: if you're not good at one thing or another and you "blow it", that's tough cookies. Ask Dan O Brian, who no-heighted in the Oly trials Pole Vault event way back when. Tough cookies. You failed the test, no matter your potential and no matter the worth of the individual test. Everyone takes the same damn test; everyone assumes the same risk. Period.

Again, this was a World Class event, and I am not complaining just observing that if we value each component of fitness equally then they should weigh in equally on who we crown Champion.
++++ An interesting point. By comparison, the decathlon does not weigh each event equally, by the way. The logarithms calcuting the scale of performance are not identical per event. Just an analogy.

I propose scoring tables, as used in the decathlon. I've actually developed these in the past.

85. Joey wrote...

Congrads to all the competitors and winners of the games.

*******I would like to thank Dave Castro for putting up the timers this year. Last year it was a guessing game what the times were for the competitors. It was nice to be able to know what the times were when the competitors finished without having to ask people.

******* Great job by DiabloCrossFit (Diablo Extreme Timer)who put them up the timers for everyone to view.

86. KCO wrote...

Does anyone know what happened to Bionic? He didn't even compete??? He was my guy to win in the office pool.

87. jonathan wrote...

When are we going to hear of the results from the PED tests?

88. Richard Vanmeerbeek wrote...

Mikko, you were amazing this weekend ! Been warning everyone from day 1, and now the world finally knows and must be wondering "what the hell ?".

Still waiting to see one workout that will make you lay on the floor after, it didn't happen once this weekend !

89. G wrote...

Not complaining the scoring is what it is and we cant change it, take a look at the outcome for all the events aside from the run and you can see who was crushing the events and who wasn't, Congratulations Miko your a beast! Jason your still champ in my books and many others.

90. Davie wrote...

Congratualtions Mikko and Tanya.

Think there needs to be 2 new named workouts for the champs

91. Nukemarine replied to comment from jonathan...

Sadly, OPT could not fill the bottle after three attempts and was DQ'd.

In reality, what makes you think they're actually going to release the results of the urinalysis to the public? Shouldn't the results just be between the athlete and the organizers?

I'm just being sarcastic, but come to think of it, what are the actions taken as a result of a positive?

92. MIke replied to comment from KCO...

Reportedly Bionic pulled out due to Back Injury.

93. Dave wrote...

Bionic had to withdraw due to an existing back injury.

94. CraigH wrote...

Congratulations, Mikko. You inspire and scare me.

Jason, while down on the road I saw you and your contorted face up close as you hobbled and gagged on water and I thought, "what a tragedy, Jason is going to have to withdraw or be cut on day 1." Then, not more than an hour later, I see you deadlift 505! Then you go on to kill the remaining workouts. Are you f-ng kidding me? I saw you in the morning! You were toast!

You are either not human or you have a twin brother! Thats it, a twin. Aha!

Way to go man. We all have had one bad workout where things went whacky with our bodies. You're abilities to recover and mentally stay in the game are remarkable and unforgettable.

95. Ryan Brown replied to comment from R...

Jason Khalipa is so much more badass than Jared.

96. CraigH wrote...

Oh, and regarding scoring: get rid of the stop watches and give the guys a touch pad or make them cross a timing barrier for every workout. The potential for error with stop watches is way too big, especially when seconds, or hundredths of seconds count.

97. Little M wrote...

just to comment on the comment about the scoring system, "had the scoring system been done differently Jason Khalipa would have come 1st and Mikko Salo 2nd..

well had the scoring system been done differently i too would have come 1st in the women's competition, although i did not attend the CrossFit games, nor did i enter the qualifiers..

So what if a non American won.. its OK, isn't that what CrossFit is all about..??!!

98. Paul Puma wrote...

So, about the drug testing? Who failed?

99. ken wrote...

Little M,

If there was a competition for dumbest comment over the weekend about the CF Games, it's quite plausible that you'd win.

100. Mark wrote...

A large part of the scoring problem is that by essentially "weighting" the day 2 events less, it is not quite as exciting for the spectators. This can obviously be seen in the Affliate Cup where the winner was already determined before the start of day 2.

Also, it's not necessarily broken, but they need to keep in mind that this weighting means that movements like pullups that only appeared in day 2 receive less scoring emphasis. And that having the endurance to stay strong into the later events is not as rewarded as it could be.

101. Tom Nugent replied to comment from josh everett...

Josh - Wanted to just say it was great watching you and the rest of the incredible competitors all weekend! The class, humility, passion, competitiveness and friendliness you always show are what the Games and CrossFit is all about. Watching you chomp at the bit to get through the deadlifts was just plain cool. Pushing yourself through the snatch/wallball WOD with obviously a tight back was impressive as well. Keep setting the example for the rest of us and hope you go back to the Games next year.

102. bkm replied to comment from j...

With all due respect you and I are debating apples and oranges. The decathlon scoring will NOT work for this event since the skills and movements tested are completely unknown prior to the event, the individuals ALL have relative strengths and weaknesses, and the OlY lifts and gymnastics ARE an integral part of Crosffit's level of fitness just as much as long slow distance running. To be fair, all final 65 and maybe 74 competitors would need to compete in all 8 wods for the scoring to be absolutely equal from each aspect of fitness tested in this format since there were some world class Oly lifters left out of day 2 as well as outstanding gymnasts which certainly would have increased the overall score of the final 16, particularly given than several could not perform HSPU or Muscleups as prescribed.
If the programming of this event was designed to make running, rowing, hammering, and deadlifting the "filter" for fitness excluding competitors who may be a "weaker" runner or "hammer swinger" (albeit relative weakness given the level of competition) then mission accomplished. But, I'm not sure that was the intent.
Your point is understood, that each individual competitor maintained the same risk as it stood for each event, that's a given, but that's not my arguement. If all 65 of the remaining competitors competed in day 2, this would have allowed the "power of placement" to be equal for all wods and therefore all aspects of fitness tested.
I don't think the outcome for the Champion would be different, but it certainly would have affected some of the others who were relatively weak in gymnastics and Oly lifting.
This is an interesting and somewhat arbitrary debate for '09, but will likely be addressed for the 2010 Games.
My humble suggestion would be to have day 1 on Friday, select the top 16, and compete on Sunday for day 2 with an even slate and five new wods much in the "Strong Man" format. That way the elite 16 get to compete head to head against each other.
This position has been exhausted by others on the previous 2 day's forums therefore I'm really done with it.
This debate in NO WAY detracts from the World Class efforts and organization of this event by the athletes and organizers, just some healthy debate to "forge elite scoring" LoL. Good day mate.

103. Chad wrote...

Jason, you are the man! I stood there 5 ft. from you and watched in in agony laying on the ground then get up and finish the race. Then you make that unbelievable comeback! I watched the video on the games main page where you talk about why you posted the video of you struggling with the King Kong workout. It was an inspiration because that day I got smoked by a workout and was pissed at myself, it was just what I needed to hear. Keep up the good work!

104. AC wrote...

My first time as a spectator. Not sure if this is how the Games are always run, but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was very efficient and well thought through. Is there always room for improvement? Sure, but my experience was excellent! I mean, they even had a wireless ATM for crying out loud! That's thinkin'! :)

105. Robyn - Crossfit Oakland wrote...

Congratulations to Miko, Tanya and all of the other athletes! Your accomplishments and heart this weekend were truly inspiring.

Jason K - you are a class act. All of us @ CFO are huge fans and had a blast watching you. Thanks for giving us such a great show and representing the BA with style.

106. Dave S wrote...

Here's another thought on the scoring, and a possible alternative method.

First, as has been stated before the current system gave a heavier weight to the day 1 events. It also discarded the 'every second counts' approach, which I personally happen to like.

Instead, each competitor's time or score for a particular event could be normalized to the best time or score from the field. For timed events you would divide the fastest time by your time and for scored events (rounds, reps) you would divide your score by the best score. Thus for each event, no matter how many competed, you would get a score between 0 and 1, (1 if you were the best out of the field). This would eliminate unequal weighting of events, and also take care of having to somehow convert rounds or reps into seconds as in last year's system.

Just my two cents, and by the way I calculated mikko and jason's scores using this method and mikko still won.

107. Louise wrote...

What an amazing event! Congrats to Tanya and Mikko!!! You are heroic! I was fortunate enough to volunteer for this event and this was an amazingly well run event. Dave Castro you are an amazing man! I saw you on Sunday morning and know how hard you pushed yourself all weekend. Also, Jeff Tucker, Jamie and Chantal it was amazing to watch each of you handling all that got thrown at you this weekend. I would be honored to work with you anytime!
Jason K., thank you for continuing to be an inspiration to me!

108. Dave replied to comment from bkm...

bkm...I take your side in the discussion with j. There is just no way that the last 3 events should have counted for so little. Also, why would the event creators have capped the weight on the dead-lift if it is a max effort. 16 competitors were not able to max out their effort as opposed to everyone being able to run to their max effort in the first event and every event after that. It would be like saying all competitors who finished faster than 45min in the 7.1k all get the same time in the run and tie for first place.

I do agree that all were playing by the same rules making the games fair. I just think it could have been scored differently to allow all athletes to show their particular strengths if they happened to show up later in the games.

109. DAVE replied to comment from Nukemarine...

Agreed that final 32 should get a spot next year. That first day was nuts. Great job by all, but especially to Mikko. He was unbelievable.

110. graham holmberg wrote...

congratulations mikko!

that was an absolute blast in Aromas, and was a pleasure to be able to compete with you and all the other guys there this weekend that i met and talked to.

you are a tremendous competitor and athlete...great job of sportsmanship from yourself and representation of Crossfit and your country. that was the greatest experience of my life and i look forward to being able to make another attempt at the title next year with you.

congrats again, and have a safe flight home.

111. Mary Conover wrote...

Mikko, I am so happy to have met you and your friends at CFSCC. It was a wonderful experience having all of you working out with us. I was the very old lady draped over a bar while I pronounced your name and that of your coach.

Come back soon and visit us---all six of you.

All of Finland, and especially Pori, can be very proud of its conquering hero.

Mary

112. Brad replied to comment from Nukemarine...

Does anyone have more info on OPTs injury/DQ??

113. Dan wrote...

For anyone who is interested, here's my take on the scoring: It wasn't broken--no single competitor received privileged or differential treatment from any other--the format was set and it was followed. This aside, I do feel bad for athletes who were dismissed at various points in the competition who would have improved their rankings in the workouts following their dismissal. Some notable examples: most everyone can agree that Everett would have smashed the 1RM snatch directly following his dismissal. I think Barber, Speal and Frausto would likely have done very well on Day 2's triplet and probably fairly well on the chipper, had they had the opportunity to compete in them. Most of all, I feel bad for Dutch who got dropped after the run and the deadlift. Of course this is speculation, but I believe Dutch would have been ranked much higher had he remained in the competition for longer.

That said, I think this contest did a very good job finding the fittest man alive, which was of course, the aim of the games. Mikko Salo is an incredible athlete and did incredible work. I think, however, that it's a mistake to believe that the final results of the games constitute a valid list of the competitors ranked from fittest to least fit.

114. Dave Re wrote...

Speaking as someone who had an inside view on the operation this past weekend - *very* nicely done, CFHQ ;) It was truly my pleasure to participate on the Media team this year. If you folks here could have seen the goings on, you might pump your brakes a bit on the harsh criticism I've seen on these pages. And, if you want minute to minute updates, why don't jump on a plane next year, instead of armchair quarterbacking?

Some things:

OPT - during the briefing of the Affiliate Teams on their workout, he seemed to be fine. I was sitting next to him in the Shop, and chatted with him briefly about the workout. The next time I saw him was right before his heat was to have begun, and he was on one of the massage tables, getting worked on, and word was going around that he was injured. Specifically, they were working on one of his fore arms. Other than that, I've not heard any specifics.

Jeremy Thiel (pronounced "teal", y'all :) - as previously stated, when he went to do his first MU, he felt something pop in his right lat, and apparently had a lot of pain when he tried to raise his arm above his head. He was working with one of the Medical staff for a few minutes, and then I didn't see him on the "field" anymore. I spoke with him later on - he was understandably bummed, but acknowledged that he definitely made the right decision to avoid a long term problem. This guy wants that title bad. He'll be back.

Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson had never done muscle ups. He learned that day, in the warmup area, and he managed to get his first 8 during the workout. Hell of an effort - we were all screaming like hell for him. Somebody send that guy some rings! Send some for Annie Thorisdottir, too, who got her first MU during the ladies final heat!

Jeff Leonard - this guy has heart for miles. He just couldn't finish. He was on the last stretch of overhead lunge when time ran out.

Drug testing.... I heard no word. I suspect, however, that if a competitor had been disqualified, we'd have heard about it. Word like that tends to get around, even if its not published. I would assume that everyone passed, hopefully putting to bed any conjecture that any of these incredible athletes is anything but the real thing... ;)

115. Gunnar replied to comment from jaime...

First of all, respect to "the worlds fittest people"!

Jamie, BootcAmp Iceland is the product of (Robert) Robbi and (Arnaldur Birgir) Biggi. The goal is to ever explore and expand your limits in ALL aspects of fitness.

They (R&B) have set the baseline of coming up with challenges that at first seem impossible for the regular athlete, let alone the regular person.

Common challenges that the atheletes at BC are up to these days are 100km rowing (concept 2 machines), ultra runs (55k, 100k etc), triathlons, olympic weightlifting, rock climbing and the athletes typically branch into various other sports. To raise funds for Annie and Sveinbjorn 7 of their friends took an impossible challenge! The took turn to row for 7 days straigh, each of them rowing for 1 hour at a time (every 7 hours). Half the donations went into helping A & S and the other half to suffering kids

At BC you'll do 3 classes each week, 1 hour each (exactly). During the hour (typically 20-40 participants) participants will do exercises set forth by the trainers on the go. The exercises will at times be similar to the CF WODs but each class will be doing a full hour of that!

Every other Saturday we do a 2 hour training outside, no matter what the weather is like! In the winter time we will be crawling in the snow, our clothes will be frozen and we have to keep running to keep up body temp!

I guess there is no good way to describe it, except that is a dynamic form of training where the the team spirit drives you further each time (and the girls are hot).

I could go on and on as this has turned the life around for so many people (including me) but I'll send you links to a few pics and videos in stead.

CF qualifying - http://drengsson.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16
A realistic representation of a bootcamp class http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DwGqT0LLJw
Training for the "Tough guy" challenge winter 2008 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SctIGLZl4y0&feature=PlayList&p=09E1987CE1F315F2&index=0
Pictures from training at BC HQ Reykjavik - http://www.bootcamp.is/index.php/Media/Myndir.html
Former NAVI SEALs have come twice to do 36 hour challenges - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoK5wI5EwvA

Any further inquiries are welcomed by me and I'm sure by Robbi and Biggi as well. My email you have here and they will receive your emails at bootcamp@bootcamp.is.

Watch out, there will be allot more of us in the CFGames 2010 and we will train for that one (the rings have been installed at BC HQ and there will be no more weaknesses to expose) ;)

Regards,
Gunnar

116. Gunnar replied to comment from jaime...

First of all, respect to "the worlds fittest people"!

Jamie, BootcAmp Iceland is the product of (Robert) Robbi and (Arnaldur Birgir) Biggi. The goal is to ever explore and expand your limits in ALL aspects of fitness.

They (R&B) have set the baseline of coming up with challenges that at first seem impossible for the regular athlete, let alone the regular person.

Common challenges that the atheletes at BC are up to these days are 100km rowing (concept 2 machines), ultra runs (55k, 100k etc), triathlons, olympic weightlifting, rock climbing and the athletes typically branch into various other sports. To raise funds for Annie and Sveinbjorn 7 of their friends took an impossible challenge! The took turn to row for 7 days straigh, each of them rowing for 1 hour at a time (every 7 hours). Half the donations went into helping A & S and the other half to suffering kids

At BC you'll do 3 classes each week, 1 hour each (exactly). During the hour (typically 20-40 participants) participants will do exercises set forth by the trainers on the go. The exercises will at times be similar to the CF WODs but each class will be doing a full hour of that!

Every other Saturday we do a 2 hour training outside, no matter what the weather is like! In the winter time we will be crawling in the snow, our clothes will be frozen and we have to keep running to keep up body temp!

I guess there is no good way to describe it, except that is a dynamic form of training where the the team spirit drives you further each time (and the girls are hot).

I could go on and on as this has turned the life around for so many people (including me) but I'll send you links to a few pics and videos in stead.

CF qualifying - http://drengsson.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16
A realistic representation of a bootcamp class http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DwGqT0LLJw
Training for the "Tough guy" challenge winter 2008 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SctIGLZl4y0&feature=PlayList&p=09E1987CE1F315F2&index=0
Pictures from training at BC HQ Reykjavik - http://www.bootcamp.is/index.php/Media/Myndir.html
Former NAVI SEALs have come twice to do 36 hour challenges - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoK5wI5EwvA

Any further inquiries are welcomed by me and I'm sure by Robbi and Biggi as well. My email you have here and they will receive your emails at bootcamp@bootcamp.is.

Watch out, there will be allot more of us in the CFGames 2010 and we will train for that one (the rings have been installed at BC HQ and there will be no more weaknesses to expose) ;)

Regards,
Gunnar

117. dan wrote...

I fail to see how automatically qualifying the "last 100, 32, 16" people from this year's event to the next year's event is a good thing.

What about all these dark horses out there? Your'e just crowding them out. A lot of people are inspired by this. Finally, a physical competition where guys under 6'2" 230 can do good!

118. Lei wrote...

Hats off to Mikko, Tanya and all the competitors! What a weekend!

As far as scoring goes for 2010, here's my $0.02.

1. We always talk about maximizing the integral of the power/time curve (or area under the curve). Why don't we just take the workouts, plot the data for each athlete for each workout (taking into account heights, weights, ROM distances since we would have the data for all the athletes) and connect the dots, fit a polynomial or exponential curve to the data and use mathematics to figure out the area under the performance curve for each athlete? Maximum power output over broad time domains wins.

OR

2. A simpler way to find the fittest and most well rounded athlete would be to take the lowest ranking of each athlete throughout the workouts and that is their final ranking. (You're only as good as your weakest performance). If this were the scoring system and we only use to first 5 Workouts from day 1 (of all the athletes that finished all 5), the standings would look like this:

Mens:
Name Lowest ranking in any event
Tommy Hackenbruck 24
Moe Kelsey 28
David Millar 30
Mikko Salo 32
Steve Willis 33
James FitzGerald 37
Patrick Burke 38
Andrew Swartz 41
Ben Carter 44
Blair Morrison 44
Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson 44
Peter Egyed 44
Jerome Perryman 44
Eric O'Connor 44
Vic Zachary 44
Brandon Phillips 45
Jeremy Kinnick 46
Jeremy Thiel 46
DJ Wickham 50
Breck Berry 51
Spencer Hendel 51
Ricky Frausto 51
Jordan Holland 52
Jeff Leonard 53
J.C. Nessa 54
Brandon Pastorek 54
Darren Rosten 55
Michael FitzGerald 55
Brad Posnanski 56
Graham Holmberg 56
Chris Hogan 58
Matt Chan 58
Patrick Barber 59
Josh Wagner 61
Josh Everett 64
Rob Orlando 66
Lance Cantu 67
Jeffrey Tincher 69
Chris Spealler 71
Jason Khalipa 72
Lance Mosley 74

Womens:
Name Lowest Ranking in any event
Tanya Wagner 11
Annie Thorisdottir 14
Charity Vale 21
Christy Phillips 29
Kim Ball 31
Crystal Mcreynolds 32
Sarah Dunsmore 32
Lindsey Smith 33
Kristan Clever 34
Jolie Gentry 35
Cyndi Frieling 37
Stacey Kroon 40
Jill DiGiampaolo 42
Shana Alverson 42
Carey Kepler 42
Danielle Comolli 43
Lauren Pryor 43
Polly Bobseine 44
Heather Keenan 44
Jenny Olson 46
Michele Vieux 47
Katie Hogan 48
Stacie Tovar 48
Chastity Slone 49
Alexandra Bergeron 49
Glory Dawson 49
Laura DeMarco 51
Rebecca Voigt 52
Apollonia Helm 52
Andrea Bell 53
Lauren Erwin 55
Megan MacLellan 55
Danielle Dionne 56
Krista Colson 57
Tamara Holmes 60
Dawn Hutchison 66
Michelle Benedict 68

Compare real standings vs. theoretical using 'lowest rank' system:
Men's Actual standings:
1. M Salo
2. T Hack
3. M Kelsey
4. S Willis
5. J Khalipa

Men's Theoretical standings:
1. T Hack
2. M Kelsey
3. D Millar
4. M Salo
5. S Willis

Khalipa's run would have put him out of contention right away.

Women's Actual Standings:
1. T Wagner
2. C Vale
3. C Keplar
4. K Clever
5. L Smith

Women's Theoretical Standings:
1. T Wagner
2. A Thorisdottir
3. C Vale
4. C Phillips
5. K Ball

Hope everyone else can help HQ rack their brains on a better scoring system for next year since a lot of people have had ideas to improve it.

119. Nukemarine replied to comment from dan...

Dan, by allowing automatic placement in next year's games, you allow for more dark horses to show up. Reason being, the final 32 are likely to pass any placement next year and come back. I can't back that up, as I didn't compare the final 20 from last year to who made it this year via competition but it seems to make sense. These can compete against a new group of 75, giving more spots for dark horses.

Granted, seeing that there were a few DNF, either due to skill or injury, in the final 32 maybe only those that did all 8 WOD's should get a spot next year. So it's not an arbitrary pick. It's getting guys and gals that beat out thousands from the regionals, then went on to place top among the top.

120. Jukka Kauppinen wrote...

Congratulations - That was outstanding performance, Mikko!

CrossFit will be the next big thing in Finland. We can already see a huge (and ever growing) number of Gireviks lifting serious results. A couple of years more, and there will be a lot of Finnish competitors in those CrossFit competitions overseas. I hope we will also see some Russian and Baltic competitors as well in the future...

121. CraigH wrote...

Here's an observation: last year the big discussion post Games was all about range of motion. This year, I haven't seen any discussion about ROM.

Way to go, CFHQ! Your ability to improve this amazing event is impressive.

122. Helzy wrote...

Mikko. Good luck getting that hammer through the airport ;)

123. bingo replied to comment from Nukemarine...

Sir, your statement has no basis in fact. Every athlete participating on day two was tested (I was a small part of the medical team and was privy to this process), including OPT. You owe OPT and this community a retraction.

OPT was physically unable to continue the competition and spent the entire last workout, and beyond, under medical supervision. He was emotionally devastated. Beyond that it is appropriate to allow James to decide if, how, and when he might share any details.

Regarding PED testing, asking for results now shows a total lack of understanding of the process involved in PED testing. Only one athlete did not produce a sample, and that athlete was eliminated very early in the competition thereby making it moot. All of the samples remained under constant supervision (the chain of custody was not broken) until they were sent off-site to the lab to be tested. Do you not recall how long it takes for testing to be completed and announce in the Olympics for Heaven's sake? Implying that the absence of testing reports 2 days after the Games in some way is "suspect" is unconscionable.

With all of the cool discussions about the event, scoring, etc. above I can't believe that I have to make my first post about this BS.

Darrell E. White, M.D.

124. Nukemarine replied to comment from bingo...

Bingo, ahem, you may need to re-read my post. That's obviously a joke about note being able to fill up a urine bottle via the "three attempts". Now, that may be in poor taste, but then again my urine results always came back marked "bitter".

In seriousness, I was making fun of those wanting to know the urinalysis results. Not only am I against the idea of testing in the first place for a number of reasons, I believe any results are between the athlete and the organization.

That said, I hope those that withdrew due to injury get better. I am interested not only in the after effects of these two days of hell, but how the recovery goes for these fire breathers.

125. Vas wrote...

Here's an idea:
You show up to compete and the organizers tell you the scoring system for that day. You then do whatever is in your power to achieve the best score possible.

Thank you Games organizers.

126. Nick wrote...

To all competitors, this past weekend was one of the most inspiring things I have ever witnessed. Specifically, watching the OG Josh Everett coaching people Sunday morning on how to Snatch in the warm-up area. After being eliminated, he still has the class to do that-only in Crossfit, aint happening anywhere else. I guarantee that. You think Michael Phelps gives two shits about the dudes he swims against? Exactly, he doesn't.

362 days to go til next year, training starts now!

127. bingo replied to comment from Nukemarine...

My bad. Although it wasn't obvious to me I will gladly take ownership of not getting the joke and over-reacting.

Thanks for responding with grace and good humor.

Cheers, Brother!

128. tommyhackenbruck wrote...

WOW, Just got a second to see all the great supportive comments and I'm blown away. I wanted to say a few thanks and give my 2 cents on the weekend.

Thanks to HQ for putting it on, Coach Glassman for having the vision, and to every CrossFitter for making it possible. The crowd support was amazing, I believe every athlete pr'd in Deadlift and Snatch and the crowd had a lot to do with it. I can't thank my buddies from Oregon CrossFit enough, they were my support team all weekend and I couldn't have done it without them. Thanks also to forged clothing for the awesome fight shorts, they are badas*

Congrats to all of the athletes who competed just for completing the WOD's. For all of you who thought the workouts looked brutal.....they were.

A couple of things that stuck out in my mind: Had Mikko placed in the top 10 in the row/sledgehammer WOD he would have won by over 20 points. He was amazing. Anyone who has anything bad to say about Jason Khalipa can shut up, the man is an amazing athlete and a great guy. I'm sure it killed Josh Everett to struggle in a couple events and fall in the rankings but he showed up Sunday morning and was helping the competitors prepare for the Snatch event. He's a great guy and deserves everyones respect. Thanks Speal, O'Conner, Miranda and Tyson for your support, you guys are great and I'm so glad to be able to work with you all.

Last thing: This should be known about the competitors at the event. In the compound between events I saw athletes sharing food, sunscreen, giving advice on how to attack workouts, helping warm-up, giving encouragement, and congratulating one another. Before my sandbag sprint event Matt Chan came back from his heat and gave me some great advice on how to attack it. Guys were helping Mikko with his double unders before the final chipper because he sucked at them. Coach Glassman taught the Iceland girl how to do a muscle up before the final WOD. Everyone there wanted to win, but they also wanted their competitors to do their best as well. I truly believe that the Spirit of CrossFit is evident by what goes on behind the scenes, and that is what the games are about.

Everyone who took part thank you and we should all be proud!

Tommy Hackenbruck

129. Greg wrote...

A fun way to look at it.

Khalipa vs. Mikko head to head:

Run - Mikko
Deadlift - Khalipa
Sandbag Sprint - Mikko
Sledge - Khalipa
Couplet - Khalipa
Snatch - Khalipa
Triplet - Tie
Chipper - Mikko

Khalipa wins. Khalipa won the most events. Does this mean the scoring system is flawed? Coach Glassman has always said, we'll pull a bunch a tasks out of a hopper and he/she who does best at the most of them is the fittest.

130. Scott wrote...

Bit of (Finnish?) press on Mikko Salo...includes a video from the Euro Quals.

http://body.se/content/tavlingar/artikel.asp?CID=2959

131. Justin replied to comment from tommyhackenbruck...

I love hearing that the competitors were all helping each other out. I love that everyone wanted to both win, and also wanted everyone else to also do their best. I wish I had qualified and been about to join you all in competition.

Congrats, and see you next year!

132. jonathan replied to comment from Nick...

The difference being Michael Phelps is a world class athlete in a recognized Olympic sport, where as even the best of crossfit are only amateurs. Phelps has million dollar endorsement deals, i.e. millions of reasons not to give his opponent a leg up. Stop comparing crossfit to legitimate sports. It's a test of fitness, not a sport.

133. Scott Lewis wrote...

Tommy H. was right on. All of the competitors were helping one another all day long. I finished 44th but before the 5th WOD that I DNF'd, I bummed a few food items from people and they were more than willing to share what they had to ease my cramping back. On Sunday it was an amazing display of sportsmanship as I watched from the stands and from the inside of the barn how the remaining 32 athletes were nothing but encouraging and helpful to each other. I was honored to have had the opportunity to compete along all of the other athletes. Thanks to CFHQ and Coach Glassman for putting on such a display and thanks to all the athletes for making my first CF Games an un-forgetable event. CONGRATS MIKKO, you are a warrior!

134. Nick replied to comment from jonathan...

Dude, not comparing it to the Olympics, just saying that the sportsmanship and community of Crossfit is world-class. Also, it is a legitimate sport, it is the "sport of fitness," just like when you play golf or some other "sport," you call yourself an athlete. Are you even a crossfitter? What person who understands this community would say it is not a "sport." were you at the opening ceremonies, when Glassman said "This is the sport of fitness."

I will give you that it is not the Olympics, but it is a sport. Also, the most "elite" crossfitters are not amateurs in their sport, they are professionals. Obviously, you are missing the point behind Crossfit-all you see is the money as what defines professional or amateurs.

Tell the 75 guys and girls that what they did this weekend wasn't legitimate, and gauge their response

135. Mike M replied to comment from Greg...

Greg -

You can't base it on the head to head, especially since the scoring was announced. For all you know Mikko could have been gaming his WODs based on the points he scored in previous events.

Since Khalipa was already in a big hole he had to go all out the entire way through, while Mikko might have been easing back just ensuring he always stayed in the top 5.

Just look at the chipper WOD. The only way Mikko was going to win the Games without any assistance from another competitor helping out by doing poorly was if he won that event outright. And guess what, he took that event.

All this talk about scoring is irrelevant. Scoring was announced in advanced and I'm sure each competitor showed up with a game plan to ensure they advanced to the next round. Mikko best implemented his game plan and came out on top.

136. Greg replied to comment from Mike M...

Mike,

All this talk about scoring is not irrelevant. Mikko is the champion and I'm not trying to take that away from him. However, the scoring system and format were flawed. "All this talk" is necessary to make our sport better. If you're you're going to test athletes across 8 workouts and score based on their ability to compete against each other, then they should all compete in all 8 workouts.

To everyone out there who thinks this scoring format was fair and correct- Just wait till next year. I guarantee it will change and that will be proof for me that is was far from perfect. We are in a growing sport and mistakes are going to be made, but the great thing about HQ is they won't stop till they get it right.

137. Greg replied to comment from Mike M...

And Mikko "gaming" his events...come on dude, are you serious?

138. Nick wrote...

What scoring system are people suggesting is used? If you want to use an "lowest time format," then you have to find a way to tally the weight events (which I think could be done by converting weight lifted to minutes, seconds, then subtracting it from the total time), but that would not be perfect either. It could have been done this year though, as there would have been no danger of a negative time. So, if an athlete deadlfits say, 400 pounds, then 400 divided by 60=6.6, so 6.6 minutes is subtracted from the overall time. I don't know, just a thought

139. Mike M replied to comment from Greg...

Of course I'm serious. You think that doesn't happen. Just listen to the radio interview with Josh Everett. He is on record stating that he knew he needed a certain number on the run to remain in contention. He was gaming the WODs.

This is a sport and game planning goes in to every sport. Do you really think Speal went all out on the run for the sake of being first? He went all out because he knew his DL score was going to be terrible. If that next event was max pull-ups vice DL Speal might have actually pulled back a little to conserve energy for latter events.

140. Coach replied to comment from jonathan...

Jonathon,

You may have an intelligent/meaningful point to make, but there's no earthly, logical, way to tell.

Here's what you'd have to do before your input is other than just blather. Define "sport" and define "fitness". If you can do so, you may find that organizing your thoughts alters your opinions.

141. Aaron - Potomac CrossFit wrote...

This was a great weekend both competing and watching. I had a great time and loved the way the weekend was set up. I think it's the best we've seen and it makes me excited for next year.

My two favorite moments were Mikko taking 2nd in the run and then coming 3 inches from 505lbs on the DL. That would have given him a score after two rounds of THREE. Amazing. Second was Khalipa CRUSHING the snatch WOD. You had to be there to realize how short his breaks were when he dropped the bar. And to anyone who thinks being strong isn't important for metcon, his brute strength allowed him to muscle that bar around well after his form had deteriorated to literally lifting and pressing the bar over his head from a full stand and then doing a close grip overhead squat. Others had to get their wits about them to try another snatch. Khalipa bypassed that and brute strengthed it.

I loved that 1st, 2nd, 3rd, weighed something in the neighborhood of 175 (with a 495 DL), 195 (and 6'1 same as me!!!!), 225 (who said his favorite wod is anything with running). As someone who routinely makes excuses for himself (usually at least HALF jokingly) by pointing to his relative size, I thought this was great.

But the real takeway is that I think the placement scoring rather than every second counts works great, especially when you have a sample of 8 workouts in which to test people.

Training for 2010 starts TODAY!

142. spence replied to comment from Coach...

Those who can't do, teach, right Glassman?

143. Nick replied to comment from spence...

Dude, tell me you are being sarcastic and/or an asshole? If that is how you truly feel, then why are you wasting your time and everybody elses by posting on this site? Take your weak ass back to Gold's, do some curls, let a guy poke a needle in your a**, cause whatever your opinion is, it is not welcome here

144. spence replied to comment from Nick...

It's an open forum, Nick. Watch you're allegations of steroid use, that could be consider slander. You wouldn't want to slander me would you Nick?

145. spence wrote...

Or rather libel I should say, seeing as this is the internet. Either way, nasty stuff.

146. Nick replied to comment from spence...

Well, Spence, if you must get "legal," I can assure you that I did not "slander" you, as the First Amendment protects the right to voice one's opinion about another person so long as it is not "malicious" and "untruthful," and since you posted on a "open" forum, you have put your opinion in the public domain, thus, any comment on it is 100% protected by the First Amendment.

If you could enlighten me, I just don't understand why you would post on this site if you don't like Crossfit?

147. MB replied to comment from Jason Khalipa...

Jason Khalipa,

If you get the chance to try that run course again, I'd love to see what your actual abilities are in that event when you aren't inhibited by cramps. I suppose some people out there might think doing something like this would be poor sportsmanship, but I'm fascinated by your strengths and weaknesses and think the information would be very interesting.

148. spence wrote...

So you would argue that your accusation of steroid use was neither malicious nor untrue?

149. Braden wrote...

Congradulations to Mikko Salo! The Worlds Fittest man.
I hope we will be seeing more of him soon.
What a great weekend.Great work capacity over broad time and modal domains.Loved the wods and the new layout.
Some highlights for me off the top of my head were Khalipas run, and his comeback.BTW I Just added up the top 5 excluding the run. No one is even close to Khalipa.If Khalipa works out the glich in his running I think he would be unstoppable.There is no doubt about his willpower and heart after that run. I saw him as he was starting the second road run and he looked to be in extreme pain and could barely walk let alone run but he kept going. Amazing performance.
Josh Everett blasting through the deads.I couldnt hear what he was yelling, but he was fn pumped,
Jeremy Thiel smiling the whole whole way up the second lap of the hill run like he was having fun. Dude is sick.
Watching the competitors drive steal rods into the ground.
Watching OPT prove once again he is among the best in the world.BTW, he was the oldest competitor in the top 16!
Annie from Iceland and Sveinbjorn get their first muscle ups during the competition!
Jolie Gentry pushing it to the limit on the chipper wod.
Tanya Wagners determination on the muscle ups.Awesome!
Got to talk to Tommy Hackenbruck before the Games started. Great job Tommy!You are a machine. I think this will help your knew box in Salt Lake City!
Got to armwrestle Travis Bagent and John Brzenk.I didnt do to well. Im going to have to work on that armwrestling.
Also got to see some crazy guy fly through the air like superman and parachute to the ground.
Anyway, I could go on, but it was alot of fun and I cant wait until next year.

150. Nick replied to comment from spence...

I wouldn't characterize it as malicious, and furthermore, you should know, since you apparently are pretty well-versed in the law, that a) in order to recover, you need to prove damages to your reputation, and b) you need to have a reputation to damage in order to do so. I did not write that with the specific intent of harming you, heck, I don't even know who you are, so it is not "malicious." As for truth, it is the ultimate defense.

You still haven't answered my question: Why do you post on here if you don't agree with Coach Glassman's philosophy?

151. CraigH replied to comment from tommyhackenbruck...

Great perspective, Tommy. That is CrossFit. Amazing performance by you, by the way.

Meanwhile, out in the stands and tents, we less fit CrossFitters were sharing beers and bar-b-que.

152. Rickard wrote...

Congrats again, Mikko... you're a champ!!

By the way, what was the distance on the walking lunges?
Need to know. Thinking about doing the final wod as rx'd.

153. Ken wrote...

Nick, you can't honestly believe that being a fan of crossfit entails being a fan of Greg Glassman (who is not a "coach" of anything). These are two very different issues my friend.

154. Dave wrote...

While I agree that there should..and will be tweaks to the scoring system, I think we can all agree that the right guy won this event. Mikko was an absolute best. No disrespect to J Khalipa as he is obviously an absolute beast, but finishing 4th to last on the 7k run should matter when assessing one's overall "work capacity across broad time and modal domains". According to that standard, Mikko was the best and deserved the victory.

Also, Anne from Iceland deserves a lot of praise. She has been Crossfitting for a month and was 2nd going into the final WOD. She is obviously a gifted athlete (a competitive pole vaulter) and is a sign of things to come for these games. Going forward we will be seeing more gifted athletes like her, and the bar will be raised significantly. Looking forward to the 2010 games.....

155. Nick replied to comment from Ken...

You are right, you don't need to like Glassman to like Crossfit. However, like it or not, he is the person who "invented" what we know as Crossfit. Maybe that is overstating the case-maybe he just found out a way to turn all the normal exercises people do into gyms into something that is different and just as effective. And I don't think I ever used the word "fan" in my post. All I asked was why somebody would talk sh*t on this website to the person who is responsibel for it (whether that is based on smart business acumen or a superior knolwedge of fitness, I don't know). Saying Glassman isn't a Coach is like saying Bill Walsh is not a "Coach" because he didn't teach the West Coast offense he created to every single football team in the world who runs it.

You cannot deny that his "philosophy" is behind it

156. Shane Rugby wrote...

Spence, accusing someone of defaming you, where you cannot be identified, is about the most stupid comment I've read on any forum on the internet ever. How can someone attack your reputation, where they don't know who you are and no one reading it knows who you are? Even if you now posted full details of who you are, it wouldn't make the accusation that you take steroids libellous. The accusation has been made in ignorance of your identity.

I am blown away by Mikko's feat. What a performance. truly inspiring. I appreciate that people want the Games to improve and that's cool. I'm a fan of Speal, Josh, Jason etc. but everyone should give Mikko full credit for winning the Crossfit Games. The scoring was not broken. Running "alternative scoring" is actually distasteful. We could all argue it several different ways. For example, the deadlift "first place" should not have given everyone 1 point, but an average of 1+2+3+4+5....+15. This would favour Mikko. Or alternatively, the deadlift should have kept going, giving the stronger guys the opportunity to go above 505lbs and separate people further (would have favoured Jason, Josh etc.) Or alternatively, anyone who finished top 15 in the run should have got 1 point like in the Deadlift (might favour Mikko).....and on, and on, and on it goes. Interesting? No doubt. A bit pointless? In my humble opinion, retrospectively: yes, prospectively: no. Looking forward, and maybe using a few "test runs" along the way for the scoring system in some one-off competitions, and looking at everything out there from gymnastics, to strongman events, to ice-skating or whatever? All for that. But Mikko - you are the undoubted and undisputed fittest guy on the planet and you deserve thanks from all of us for a most incredible performance and achievement.

157. Dan replied to comment from Shane Rugby...

Actually, the way the deadlift was scored favored Jason in my opinion. The 505 deadlift was his PR, coming up from 485 prior to the games. This is not to take away from his accomplishment on the workout; to PR his deadlift by 20 pounds, after a very difficult run is a huge testament to his heart and willpower! I'm just saying that if the DL had gone up to a 1RM, he probably would have received more than 1 point on it, since it's unlikely (although possible) that he would have beaten the guys coming into the games with a 600+ DL (Mosely, Perryman and Orlando). Nonetheless, great job, Jason, your performance was absolutely incredible!

158. Ken wrote...

False, he is a personal trainer at best. All personal trainers create workouts, but it would be silly to say then that all personal trainers are "coaches". Creating a workout system DOES NOT make you a coach at anything, no matter how popular or unpopular it is.

159. Ricardo wrote...

I have read through most of these positive and constructive comments about the games. I cannot disagree: I think the games were great! Could they have had better internet coverage? Yes. Did they undoubtedly do the best they could? I am sure they did.

I do want to make one comment to the bloggers out there: The workouts were ideal and just right.

Ask yourself: Were the 10 elements of fitness present and equally represented in the overall slate of WODs? The answer is undoubtedly yes. And to be quite frank it does not matter in what order they go, my point being this:

Each individual exercise in and of itself can be done to a maximum effort, but when you start to pair and order combinations of movements, that is when real fitness is tested, measured and achieved.

I did a workout today with double unders in it. I was excited because I am getting better at double unders. Burpees however were first. I did not think it would be as challenging as it was. The double unders were a lot slower than I expected. Again, double unders by themselves, no problem; double unders (50 of them) with burpees in front (25) for 4 rounds; much bigger problem. I got 17:14 (I am sure many people could do this workout right now and go faster). It just goes to show that Crossfit tests not only the ability to do an exercise..but the ability to do an exercise after a challenging exercise when considerably less is left in the tank. For that reason, I applaud the WOD selection for the Games.

This WOD would be interesting: Girl WOD Gauntlet. Girls Gone CROSSFIT: Annie, Christine 300lb DL, Fran (standard), Grace (standard), Isabel (standard), Nancy (standard) all in one shot. Whatever, just keep the variety coming Coach Glassman. One of the attractions to Crossfit is the daily commitment to doing something that I may have never done before in a particular combination. I think the Games selects its champion and it did so without fail this year. Congrats to Mikko and Tanya Wagner.

Something of note:

Props to the Pacific Northwest Region this year for totally representing at the games!

Affiliate Cup:
1. Northwest Crossfit (Seattle, WA)
6. Oregon Crossfit (Bend, OR)

Women's Individual:
2. Charity Vale (Snohomish, WA)
**Jennifer Olson (top 10, Seattle area)

Men's Individual:
2. Tommy Hackenbruck (from Oregon)
3. Moe Kelsey (Seattle area)
17. Jerome Perryman (CFHEL, Portland, OR)

Thank you. Now I'm done.

Ricardo

160. Gunnar replied to comment from jaime...

Jamie, I'd love to tell you all about BootCamp Iceland but for some reason my comments here about that are not authorized :/ I'll send you the comment I had put together via email and for anyone interested I'll be more than happy to give you all the info you want :)

Regards,
Gunnar
BootCamp Iceland

161. Ricardo replied to comment from Nick...

Nick,

Don't waste your time bro. Judging from comment #141, Coach Glassman could probably handle this guy in 1 round of Tabata. Save your energy.

162. Nick replied to comment from Ricardo...

Ricardo-

I realize that now, after I wasted my time getting aggravated. And there is no doubt in my mind that Glassman, with his bum back or hip or whatever it is, could smoke this dude in about any WOD

163. James replied to comment from Gunnar...

I am interested in what you wrote up. Let me know how to contact you.

164. dret wrote...

just a note: i dislike that old phrase "those who can't do, teach." a great teacher is one of our culture's most undervalued persons.